


Candlelight

by EchoingHowls



Category: Candlelight - Fandom, Original Work
Genre: F/F, F/M, Familiars, M/M, Mages, Magic, Will not update frequently, mythical creatures, original writing - Freeform, powers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:00:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22255306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EchoingHowls/pseuds/EchoingHowls
Summary: In a place engulfed in magic, a group of students must save the others.
Relationships: will add as they appear
Comments: 4
Kudos: 2





	Candlelight

The sky was a pale blue, the scattered clouds it carried dappled with droplets of gold as the sun began its fiery sleep. The birdsong of the day was giving way to the chirps of crickets and the buzzing of bees replaced with the flutter of moth wings. 

In a small village, parents were bustling their children inside for dinner, holding their red, blue, purple, and other colored lanterns into the air and calling the kids from their play. A few children gave the local griffins a last pet and scratch under the feathers before they were racing home, their colored embers and sparks whizzing around them like excited fairies.

A few teens with red and blue candles hovering beside them ducked into the shadows, out of sight from their parents as they searched the nearby woods for dragons and werewolves.

Through the woods, following the thin dirt trail around towering oaks and through the heavy brush, was a boy atop a hippogriff, nearing the end of his three-day trek through the forest to where he was supposed to start school.

In two days.

It was customary that once you got your candle at the age of twelve, you would head to the local school at the start of spring. The new twelve-year-olds would head up a day early for orientation, and then the older kids would be up in time for classes by the Spring Solstice. 

Unless, of course, you were Ryx.

In which case, you were heading up _two days_ early to make sure you wouldn’t be late (just because you had a bit of a habit of it).

In any case, Ryx and his silvery hippogriff were heading up the poorly worn path and up the hill, out of the valley that he and his village lived in.

“You know Storm,”

Ryx sighed as he listened to the hippogriff’s hooves and talons scrape and scratch at the dappled weeds in the path, 

“If you think about it, we could probably set up camp for a bit and wait for the rest of the freshmen to catch up. I bet you’d like a rest, right?”

Storm huffed and began trotting before slowing back down and tossing her head. Ryx sighed, nodding slowly at the clear message of, ‘we need to keep moving’. He glanced at a few of the surrounding trees before digging through his satchel and pulling out a small stone. It was only about the size of his palm and a deep scarlet color. Red Jasper.

“Need a bit of energy?”

He offered to Storm, holding the stone out to where the hippogriff could see it. Storm paused in her walking and made a small chirping sound. Ryx smiled and pressed the jasper against her shoulder, watching as the stone began to give off a soft, red glow. Storm sighed, scratching at the path with her talon before turning her head to give Ryx a few clicks of appreciation and continuing their trek. Ryx smiled softly, placed the stone back into his bag, and rubbed the silver feathers where it had been resting.

“Anything for you, girl.”

Some of his hair fell into his face, and he tucked the curly black strands behind his ear before running his fingers lazily along Storm’s soft feathers.

“I’m bummed you can’t stay with me at school. I’m going to miss you.”

The hippogriff made a series of small chirps and whistles, probably to soothe his worries if Ryx had to guess. 

“Just fly safely on your way home, okay? I don’t want to get a letter about how you ran into another shrouded building.”

Storm let out an indignant squawk, pecking Ryx’s leg as the young mage giggled.

A breeze flicked through the trees, tugging at Ryx’s hair and Storm’s feathers.

Dusk was settling.

The crickets had grown loud and comfortable, and the sky was fading to a deep violet and indigo. 

Stars speckled the darkening sky like the freckles on Ryx’s face.

The candle that hovered near Ryx’s shoulder gave off a soft orange glow that illuminated both hippogriff and mage.

“Maybe we should set up camp for tonight. We can reach the Meeting House in the morning.”

Storm took a few more steps before stopping, and Ryx slipped off her back, careful to avoid her wings.

He opened up one of the saddlebags and pulled out a peryton skin blanket, draping it over his shoulder before taking the bags off of Storm. He dropped them beside an oak that lined the path, and Storm made her way over as he curled up beside one of the roots and pulled his blanket close. 

Storm stood beside him, cooing a response to his soft “goodnight” before she fluffed her feathers and began dozing off while standing.

  
  
  


Ryx was nudged by a smooth beak and soft chirps and blinked awake to a familiar feathered face and gentle chocolate eyes.

“Heyya Storm,”

He mumbled groggily, reaching up and petting a few of her feathers,

“Morning already?”

“Yep.”

Ryx jumped at the new voice, startling Storm into a flurry of snorts and clawing at the ground with how quick he was on his feet and pointing a small dagger at the newcomers. 

They were both girls, both wearing green vests, and neither seemed affected by his weapon.

Green mages.

They seemed to be twins, if the matching auburn hair and vibrant emerald eyes were anything to go by. One of them was seated in a wheelchair (aka a heavily padded wicker chair with wheels), and in her hand was a lead attached to a harnessed miniature griffin.

Said griffin was paying more attention to Storm than Ryx, but he had other things to worry about.

“What are you two doing here?”

He demanded, eyes flicking between the two.

“Going to school? What does it look like we’re doing?”

The standing girl sassed. Her hair reached well past her shoulders, the strands waving like willow leaves in the early morning breeze.

“Well, why are you out here so early?”

Ryx asked, returning his dagger to its sheath in his pocket. 

“We could ask the same of you!”

The girl snapped again, taking a step toward Ryx.

“I came here early to make sure I got to school on time!”

Ryx snapped back, trying to ignite the coal in his eyes to scare her off. 

If anything, that just angered the girl more.

She sneered and looked ready to verbally slap Ryx all the way back home, but a small voice stopped them both.

“We could go together,”

Both obsidian and jade turned to look at the girl in the wheelchair, a small smile on her face as she tenderly pet the griffin’s mane. 

Her hair was shorter, only just covering her ears, and she had large circular glasses to match Ryx’s.

“We might as well if we’re heading in the same direction.”

Ryx and the standing girl glared at each other for one more moment before Ryx turned with a huff.

He could feel her smirk on his back.

“Fine. Whatever. I don’t care.”

He was grumbling as he quickly tossed Storm’s bags back on, but instead of climbing up he turned back toward the twins.

“Come on.”

The birdsong was back in the bright, pearly morning. The thunderbirds seemed to deeply enjoy the thick cloud cover that dragged across the pale sky, the air cool and crisp in its newness. 

The mini griffin was attached to the wheelchair, dutifully pulling the girl up with ease despite the incline. 

“My name is Leilah,”

The girl in the wheelchair finally said, breaking the creaking unease through the group,

“And that is my twin sister, Taylor.”

Taylor didn’t even glance back at Ryx from where she was leading the group, the walking stick she had plucked off of a tree plunging into the soil still moist with dew. 

The steady strikes in the dirt reminded Ryx of a clock.

“What’s your name?”

Leilah asked softly, still smiling despite the pressured silence.

“Ryx,”

The Orange mage finally huffed, looking to where he was keeping pace with the wheelchair,

“And I’m going to answer your question before you ask: I’m only out here because my parents didn’t believe I’d get to school on-time.”

Leilah’s smile widened, and she tilted her head a bit before offering,

“Premonitions?”

Ryx scoffed and shrugged.

“Yeah, but I didn’t need them to know what you were going to ask. I can read people pretty easy.”

“Is ‘being annoying’ also a quirk of your magic? Or is that just your personality?”

Ryx rolled his eyes at Taylor’s sharp tongue before striking right back,

“I dunno, is ‘being a stuck up prick’ part of yours?”

Taylor struck the soil with her stick but didn’t pull it back out. 

As she slowly turned around with venom in her eyes, Ryx heard Leilah sigh heavily.

“Watch yourself, kid. My sister and I actually have a _valid_ reason to be up here early and you’re just lucky she’s nice enough to deal with you slowing us down.”

Ryx wanted to snap.

He really did.

To yell right back that a hippogriff was, in fact, faster than a griffin pulling a wheelchair.

But…

He wheeled around to face Leilah, the griffin that was pulling her sitting patiently and preening his feathers. The Green mage was just… watching him.

Watching and waiting with a strained smile and a plea on her face that begged _for the topic to just be dropped._

So, Ryx took a deep breath and turned back toward Taylor.

The green candle that hovered near her shoulder flickered dangerously.

“I’m sorry. Let’s keep heading up, yeah?”

After the apology left his lips, Ryx continued his walk up the hill, Storm following him up and past the frozen Taylor.

She was still staring where Ryx had just been, blinking like she didn’t know what to do next.

Ryx turned back toward the hill, smiling when he heard the creaking of Leilah’s wheelchair start up again.

His smile turned into a smirk when he heard the tapping of Taylor’s stick turn frantic and angry as she caught up.

  
  


The morning wore on, gradually growing cooler as the clouds moved to blot out the sun and darken with signs of rain. A thunderbird let out a shrill call from somewhere in the depths of the trees, and the single call quickly turned into a chorus before they all fell silent at once.

“A storm is coming,”

Ryx and Taylor said at the same time. They glanced at each other, and Taylor narrowed her eyes a bit, but otherwise they fell back into silence.

Not a tense, stranger-danger silence like before; more like an understandable silence that came after someone had been bested.

And Taylor hasn’t stopped glaring ahead of them since they started walking with one on each side of Leilah.

Storm at one point let out a series of chirps, rubbing her beak against Ryx’s chest with a tired huff.

“Need some jasper, girl?”

He asked, and Storm nipped his sleeve in response.

“Alright, give me a sec.”

He turned toward Leilah and Taylor who had continued a bit ahead.

“Hey guys, hold for a bit?”

Leilah gave her griffin a gentle tug to stop him, and Taylor paused with a huff.

Ryx dug through his bag, pulling out the piece of red jasper and pressing it against Storm. The hippogriff let out a pleased coo, and when Ryx was about to put the stone away, he heard another pleading call. 

He looked up to see Leilah’s griffin staring intently at him, his thin tail whipping the air excitedly as he took a few steps closer.

“You want some, bud?”

The griffin let out a half squawk-half mewl, his trimmed wings fluffing as he eyed the jasper in Ryx’s palm.

“What is that?”

Leilah asked softly, frowning a bit at the stone.

“Oh! It’s red jasper! It gives an energy boost that’s perfect for traveling.”

Leilah looked at her griffin, who now let out an impatient ‘ _mrrow’_.

“It doesn’t harm them?”

Leilah pressed, weaving her fingers together as she kept her gaze on the griffin.

“Not at all! In fact, you can try it too if you would like!”

Ryx was beaming as he offered the red stone to Leilah, and when she took it he added,

“Just give it a little squeeze,”

Leilah eyed the stone, but when it began to glow, her eyes widened. She almost immediately let go, the faint light fading away as she smiled brightly at Ryx.

“That’s amazing!”

“Isn’t it?”

Ryx agreed, near bouncing with his excitement,

“And there are so many that do so much more! Stones are so _fascinating—_ “

The conversation was stopped at the sudden shriek that came from Leilah’s griffin, scraping the path up with both talons and claws as it glared at Ryx in annoyance.

“Can I?”

Ryx chuckled, glancing at Leilah.

“Of course,”

Leilah giggled as Ryx pressed the jasper to the griffin’s shoulder.

“What’s his name?”

The Orange mage asked, running his thumb along the feathered ears of the now very pleased griffin.

“Chariot, although everyone calls him Charri,”

Leilah said simply, smiling at the purrs that poured from Charri. Ryx pulled the stone away after the griffin seemed to regain his energy (he had never heard a griffin purr so loud!), and tucked the stone away back into his bag. 

They started walking again, listening to the buzzing of dragonflies and bees as they hummed and zipped through the foliage, the occasional being snapped up in the jaws of tiny dragons and young thunderbirds. 

“So, what are your powers?”

Ryx asked after a bit, turning and glancing at Leilah.

“Illusions, same as Taylor.”

“Really? That’s cool, what’s your favorite thing to make?”

Leilah’s smile softened as she dropped Ryx’s gaze,

“Birds; although none of the living ones. I like to imagine the mythical ones, like doves and eagles.”

With her words, a small white bird shimmered into existence, flapping gently around them before dissolving back into nothingness.

“Wow… that’s beautiful,”

Ryx said breathlessly, watching the air where the dove had vanished. Leilah giggled before saying softly,

“I’ve always wanted to fly. To feel the wind beneath me and let the sun and sky whisk away my worries,”

Her smile fell a bit.

“That’s why I feel so horrible about snipping Charri’s wings. I don’t want him to feel trapped with me. I know he was raised to do this, but what if he never wanted to pull my wheelchair? What if he wanted to fly off and become the best fishing griffin in the region? To have a family of his own?”

Leilah let her words hover in the air, heavy and dull until the griffin turned his head and gave the Green mage a soft chirrup. Her smile returned, but very faint.

“Thank you, Charri. I care for you too.”

The group was silent for a long while. Commenting on small critters that scuttled the path, on the darkening clouds, and the first droplets of rain as the thunderbirds let out their calls again.

It wasn’t until they were ducking under trees to avoid the rain, (Storm shielding them from her namesake with her wings) that Ryx’s candle flickered.

He blinked, and he was suddenly seeing through the eyes of another. He wasn’t sure who at first, but when he turned around, he could see himself and Leilah close behind.

_Alright Taylor, what do you have to show me?_

He turned back forward, letting out a startled gasp as the foliage seemed to block off the path forward.

A dead end.

_Dang it! How is this the wrong way?_

He thought to himself, trying to look around and find a way around the impenetrable oak trees and tall ferns. He reached to pull a branch out of the way, but his hand melted through it.

_It’s shrouded! The rest of the path is shrouded!_

He blinked and found himself back into his own skin, shaking his head to brush off any remnants of ‘ _feeling like Taylor’._

“Hey guys, we should keep moving.”

He called over the now heavy rain, Taylor turned to him with her nose scrunched in disgust.

“In this storm? No thank you.”

“The Meeting Building is just ahead! It’s shrouded behind a dead end.”

“How do you know?”

“I just had a premonition!”

“I’m sure you did,”

Taylor sighed, rolling her eyes,

“But right now, we’re going to stay here. The building can wait.”

“The building will give us better cover,”

Leilah countered,

“How far did you say it was?”

She asked, turning to face Ryx. Taylor’s gaze narrowed in Ryx’s smirk before he pointed up the path.

“Not far, maybe a three minute walk from here.”

“That’s not far at all! Let’s go, Taylor.”

Leilah said cheerily, giving Charri a light tug to get him walking again. 

Ryx had Storm stay next to Leilah, giving the girl some cover with her large wings as he and Taylor stayed in the rain.

Like he had seen in his vision, Taylor pulled ahead a bit (probably to make sure there really was a shrouded dead end), and stopped when she reached the wall of shrubbery and vines.

She hesitated a moment, then stuck her hand through.

“Perfectly predicted,”

Ryx muttered to himself, crossing his arms across his chest and giving Taylor the biggest smirk he could. However, she wasted no time in pushing through, Leilah and Ryx quick to follow.

On the other side of the false wall opened up a large clearing, with a cobble path that lead up the rest of the hill. Atop the cobble and stubbled grass sat a large building, made of wood and lined with a stone foundation. 

Wildflowers that dappled the grass danced as rain fell on their petals.

“The Meeting Building! I told you!”

Ryx shouted, half of his face hidden behind his soaked hair.

“Whatever. Let’s get inside,”

Taylor grumbled, already trudging through up the path and stubbornly stabbing the ground with her walking stick.

Leilah gave Ryx a smile before they began making their way up together, Charri and Storm chittering softly at each other. When they reached the door to the building, Taylor held the door for Leilah and Charri, and when Ryx reached it she slammed the door on his face. 

Ryx only scoffed and shook his head before opening the door again.

He held it open for Storm, figuring nobody would really care if she was inside until tomorrow.

When the hippogriff came inside, Ryx closed the door and turned to assess what was inside.

It was mostly empty, with a few couches against the walls and a table with chairs around it near the front left of the room.

In the back was a fireplace, which Taylor was already attempting to ignite with the kindle, flint, and steel that was atop the pile of firewood.

A few more strikes, and the wood was aflame.

“We should change into dry clothes,”

The Green mage said after she stood up,

“None of us will want a cold the first week of school.”

Ryx nodded, hunkering down beside Storm with her wings open as he changed in the corner.

He waited until he was sure the girls had finished changing, (meaning he waited until Taylor yelled at him to stop standing in the corner like an idiot), and then laid his own wet clothes on the floor beside Taylor and Leilah’s for them to dry.

Then, they all settled down for bed- Ryx on the left side and the girls on the right, each with a dusty sofa to sleep on.

Charri had been unleashed from the wheelchair and curled up beside Leilah, letting out soft putts as she pet him. Storm curled up beside the Ryx, the only light in the Meeting Building coming from an orange candle, two green candles, and the crackling fire in the middle.

Ryx dozed off as his hand lazily threaded through the silver hippogriff’s head feathers.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to ask questions in the comments <3


End file.
